Road cleaner and smoother.



I G. U. DAVIS.

ROAD CLEANER AND SMOOTHER.

APPLICATION FILED 0012s, 1910.

WI T NESSES- IN VE N TOR:

ATTORNEY.

COLUMBIA WI"?! (0-. WASHINGTON. D- C.

GEORGE U. DAVIS, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

ROAD CLEANER AND SMOOTHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1912.

Application filed October 28, 1910. Serial No. 589,531.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE U. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Road Cleaners and Smoothers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to implements for cleaning and smoothing roadways or paths in parks, cemeteries, or elsewhere, the invention having reference more particularly to an implement that is adapted to be drawn upon the ground and capable of removing unsightly debris, such as leaves, twigs of trees, straws, paper, and other substances that may fall or be dropped upon the roads or paths.

The object of the invention is to provide a road cleaner and smoother of the abovementioned character that will be adapted to be cheaply constructed and capable of cleaning roads or paths of small substances without necessitating re-rolling of gravel-roads, and which will be adapted to smooth the roads by drawing gravel, which may have been loosened from the surface by passing teams, into depressions which may have been produced by washing during rain storms; a particular object being to provide a road cleaner that will be adapted to be cheaply operated, especially after large quantities of leaves have been raked from the roads, for removing the small particles invariably left after completion of the raking operations.

WVith the above mentioned and other objects in View, the invention consists in a road cleaner and smoother comprising a frame that in plan contour corresponds to an oblique parallelogram and is provided on the under side thereof with a plurality of series of downwardly extending flexible brushing devices adapted to catch sticks, straws, or the like, in passing over the ground, the devices being oblong in plan and arranged obliquely to the line of draft, the devices of the different series being arranged relatively in staggered order, the frame being provided with a draft device or devices for drawing the implement upon the ground.

The invention consists also in the novel parts, and combinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter particularly described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of the improved road cleaner and smoother constructed substantially in accordance with the invention and provided with draft rigging; Fig. 2, a fragmentary vertical section on the plane of the line A A in Fig. 1 parallel to the series of brushing devices; Fig. 3, an inverted plan of the implement; Fig. 4:, a fragmentary vertical section on the plane ofthe line B B in Fig. 3 inverted; and Fig. 5, a side eleva tion of the implement.

Similar reference characters in the several figures of the drawings indicate corre sponding elements or features of construction herein referred to.

As preferably constructed the implement comprises a plurality of longitudinal mem bers of equal length and arranged parallel one to another, there being two side members 1 and 1 and a suitable number of intermediate members 2, 2, said members preferably being composed of relatively thin strips of wood so as to be slightly flexible, and a plurality of transverse members 3, 4, 5, preferably longer than the longitudinal members, are secured to the under sides thereof, by means of bolts or securing devices 6, the transverse members preferably being composed of relatively thin strips of wood also so as to be slightly flexible in order that the frame may accommodate itself to the curvature or crowning of the roadway or to unevenness of surface. The transverse members are arranged obliquely to the longitudinal members and have each a plurality of series of bunches of brushing devices suitably connected to the under sides thereof. Theforward portion of the frame is pro vided with one or more, preferably two, draft devices 7, 7, to which a draft chain 8 and also a relatively short draft chain 9 are connected, respectively, so as to extend forward parallel with the longitudinal members, a tie-bar 10 preferably being connected to the draft chains, and the latter have swingle trees 11, 11, connected thereto to which two draft animals may be hitched, and it is obvious that when desired a single animal may be hitched to the draft rigging in any suitable manner.

In order to manufacture the implement conveniently with limited facilities suitable wire brushes of different sizes are employed and suitably secured to the under sides of the members 3, l, 5, a series to each member, each brush comprising an oblong back, 12, to which a plurality of bunches of wires or bristles 14; are secured so as to constitute a compound brush, the backs of the brushes being secured preferably by screws 13, 13, to the transverse members. The bristles may be composed of any suitable material, such as metallic strips or wires or hickory splints, so as to be strong and flexible and hold the substances which may become entangled therein. The forward transverse member 3 has two backs 12 and 12 arranged near opposite ends thereof between which are a suitable number of similar backs 12", the backs being arranged obliquely to the member and of suitable distance apart in parallel order so that some of the debris may escape being caught by the brushes in order to prevent choking of the leading series of brushes, the forward ends of the brushes, however, extending over slightly beyond the longitudinal planes of the rear ends of the adjacent brushes, so that the series of brushes in movement shall sweep the ground from one side to the opposite side of the frame. These brushes may suitably be approximately ten inches or twelve inches in length to obtain the desired results. The next rearward transverse member t which is parallel to the member 3 has two brush backs 15 and 15 secured to the end portions thereof and a suitable number of intermediate backs 15", each of which hold a relatively larger number of bunches of the bristles 14 than those on the member 3, the backs and consequently the brushes on the member 4 preferably being approximately fourteen inches in length and are arranged obliquely to their supporting member in staggered order with respect to the brushes on the member 3, so that what is left by the advance series of brushes will probably be caught by the next series following. The rear member 5 has two brush backs l6 and 16 secured to the end portions thereof be tween which are arranged a suitable number of similar backs 16", each having a plurality of bunches of bristles 14-, and it is preferable that there be a greater number of brushes in the rearmost-series than in the preceding series of brushes, and they are arranged relatively closer together in staggered order with the next preceding brushes, so as to catch the smaller sticks and straws that may be passed over by the preceding brushes.

The implement is provided with a drivers bench on which he may sit, and it comprises two legs 17 and 17' which stand upon the members 1 and 1 respectively and support a wooden board 18 on their upper ends, the

bench being secured to the frame by two bolts 19 and 19 extending through the board and the frame members, the bench preferably being provided with angular braces 20, 20.

T11 practical use, the implement is drawn by animals upon the roadway with the frame member 1 at one side of the roadway so that the transverse members and the brushes extend rearwardly at oblique angles to the direction of movement of the implement, and therefore the brushes when brought into contact with the objectionable substances present slanting sides thereto and tend to move the substances about on the ground until entangled in the bristles, such as may be passed by the leading brushes being taken up by those following. The driver usually sits on the middle of the bench so that his weight exerted through the bench legs acts to hold down the sides of the implement while the middle portions of the transverse members may be sprung upward slightly on crowning roads; and in case there be an unusual quantity of debris to be met by either side of the implement, the driver may move on the bench to that side in order that the frame may be most heavily weighted to prevent it from passing over the larger accumulations.

In some instances the brushes rise or pass upon particles of the objectionable substances and, pressing upon the ground cause the substance to be pushed up among the bristles or wires which are sufficiently stiff to retain them. When the brushes are sufliciently filled or at the ends of the roads the implement is turned over, so as to rest with the near member 5 and the board 18 of the bench on the ground so that the brushes are accessible, and then the accumulation of matter is raked or combed out of them, after which the implement is turned over again to normal position and the operations continue as before, first along one side, and then along the opposite side of the roadway. By reason of the large number of brushes sliding yieldingly on the roadway the loose earth or gravel is carried along by the brushes and deposited in depressions in the surface that may be passed over, or is carried along until gradually distributed smoothly over the surface of the roadway.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. An improved road. cleaner and smoother comprising a substantially flat and flexible frame that in plan contour corresponds to an oblique parallelogram, and a plurality of series of oblong brushes secured to the frame, all the brushes extending in planes that are approximately parallel to the plane of the greatest diameter of the frame.

2. An improved road cleaner and smoother comprising a plurality of longitudinal frame members, a forward frame member and a rear frame member and also an intermediate franf'e member secured to the longitudinal members obliquely thereto, a series of oblong brushes spaced apart and secured obliquely to the forward frame member, a series of relatively longer oblong brushes spaced apart and secured obliquely to the intermediate frame member, and a relatively larger series of oblong brushes spaced relatively closer together than the other series and secured obliquely to the rear frame member.

3. In a road cleaner and smoother, the combination of a plurality of longitudinal frame members spaced apart, a plurality of transverse frame members spaced apart and secured to the longitudinal members, there being a forward and a rearward and also an intermediate transverse member, a series of oblong brushes spaced apart and secured obliquely to the forward transverse member, a series of relatively longer oblong brushes spaced apart and secured obliquely to the intermediate transverse member, a relatively larger series of oblong brushes individually corresponding in length to the brushes of said second described series and secured obliquely to said rear transverse frame memher in relatively closer relation than the brushes of the other series, draft devices connected to said forward transverse mem ber, two legs secured upon the outermost ones of said longitudinal members in a plane between said intermediate member and said rear transverse member, and a seat secured upon said legs.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE U. DAVIS. WVitnesses:

P. A. HAVELIOK, E. T. SILVIUS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). C. 

